New York life
by Hashi-Hashi
Summary: Ciel and Sebastian take a trip to New York to see the ball drop on New Year's Eve. They make some enemies and Sebastian has to protect Ciel. Lots of father son moments, caring, protective Sebastian little, innocent, cute Ciel. A family fic. Continuation of my family life series. AU
1. Chapter 1

Ciel held on tightly to Sebastian's hand as they walked down the crazed streets of New York. Mey rin and bard were working over time to keep all of the fans away while Finnian stayed tense and alert for anything out of the ordinary.

Pluto trotted along side Ciel occasionally stopping to nudge the little boy into walking faster.

Looking down at Ciel who was more then a little overwhelmed, Sebastian picked him up and cradled him close. "Finnian, Ciel needs somewhere to sleep. He's tired." He dropped a kiss on to ciel's forehead and shushed him gently.

Bard pushed through the crowd faster and Finnian tried to reason with the fans. "Ladies! Ladies, Ciel is really tired. Don't you think you could let us get through?"

In response more fans dived forward screaming louder then the last ones, reaching for Ciel in Sebastian's arms.

Tiring of the screams and the occasional tug on his shirt Ciel pressed his face further into the material of Sebastian's shirt.

It was twenty minutes later that they managed to get ten steps outside of their hotel. The fans were still blocking their way and Ciel had had enough. Not caring who saw he started to yell, "Sebastian! I don't like it! Don't like it!" He covered his ears and squeezed his eyes shut.

Finnian looked exasperated and bard did his best not to tell them to get lost.

Patting ciel's back Sebastian tried to reason with the crowd, "everyone! My son is incredibly tired. Please can you let us into the hotel so that he can sleep?"

The majority of the crowd stopped pushing to get to them and they could fight their way into the hotel.

The manager of the hotel came down to greet them personally and think them for staying there. "Okay, welcome. Welcome, I'll show you up to your room and then you can get settled." He made a big sweeping gesture with his hands before he led them up the elevator into the penthouse apartment that Sebastian owned there.

There had been a little bedroom for Ciel set up, with everything he might need in it. Sebastian carried him in ignoring the prattling manager. He dressed Ciel in pyjamas and slid him into bed, removing his eyepatch before he did and pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Okay, sleep well little man." Sebastian turned around and ushered everyone but finny and pluto out of the room. "If you want me, you just tell Finnian okay? And Pluto is here to protect you as well."

Said dog jumped up and curled up in his usual position, licking ciel's hand before settling back down.

Finny grinned and sat down on the couch in the room. "Yeah, we've got him. Don't worry."

Ciel was already fast asleep, clutching his stuffed tiger in one hand and a handful of pluto's fur in the other.

The door was left open just a crack and Finny remained on his guard listening for anything other then the sound of ciel's breathing.

-/::;;::/-

Sebastian poured coffee for the hotel manager. "So tell me mike, how are things going?"  
Mike shrugged, "business as usual. The finances are good, health is good, all I can say is I am happy for this good start to the year!"

Bard snorted. "That's usually a sure fire way to guarantee you will be screwed by the end of the year."

"That may be so. But I have more pressing matters to worry about...you have heard about the recent gang wars here?"

Mey rin almost spat out her coffee. "What!"

"Gangs are prevalent around here. Beating up the rich and keeping the money." Sebastian leant agains the marble bench. "You think we'll be targeted?"

"You have one of their own Sebastian. Just because you picked him up and pampered him, doesn't mean that people don't view him as a street rat. The day of his adoption was nothing more than a publicity stunt, he isn't your real son."

There was a cracking sound as Sebastian broke the cup that was sitting in his hands. "Ciel is my son. Don't you dare ever say something as stupid as that again." Mike backed away as Sebastian was so angry his whole body shook.

Swapping looks mey rin placed a hand on Sebastian's shoulder, trying to calm him down. But Sebastian continued to talk. "You will never understand, that little boy in there is my world. Somedays he is the reason I wake up and go to work. Sure you all think that he has it easy and he gets everything his heart desires. But that is not true, he still suffers from nightmares and flashbacks of being beaten beyond an inch of his life. He takes criticism everyday about his eye and people like you tell him that his father isn't really his father. Which is not true! I will always be ciel's father, no matter what happens, he will be my baby."

Mike blinked. "You sound like an over protective mother."

"You needed to know, you hurt my son and I will hurt you." Mey rei cringed and did her best to coerce Sebastian onto the couch, but he marched into ciel's room and picked his son up. Cradling him against his chest.

Pluto got off the bed and wound his way around Sebastian, having finally decided that Ciel was safe around Sebastian and no longer growled when he was near Ciel.

"I think I should go." Mike cringed and backed out of the apartment. But not before pausing and turning back. "The name of the new gang is black ribbon by the way. No one even knows if they are friendly. So keep an eye on yourself and your son?"

"That had better not be a threat." Sebastian's eyes flashed and he pressed Ciel closer to him.

"If course not." Mike left, closing the door behind him.

Ciel murmured and opened his eyes slowly. "What...mnn...sleep."

((an: this chapter and story was inspired by a website that I found: black ribbon . Webs. Com So If anyone from there is reading, this is for you!))


	2. Chapter 2

An: Before I begin I have to tell you all. That this would NOT be in existence if it wasn't for all of you amazing people. Everyone of you means so much to me and your gorgeous reviews bring a smile to my face. TO all of you darling guest authors who I can't respond I love you and reading your reviews made me so happy. Thankyou so much what you said made me want to write again. To littlepuffyforever, gorgeous you know how amazing your reviews are and they are always so special. To everyone else who continuously reviews, I'm sorry if I don't respond but please know that I can never thankyou all enough for the amazing, gorgeous, beautiful reviews that you all give me – go treat yourselves to something nice for being such lovely people.

Xx Love you all – Hashi. on tightly to Sebastian's neck, he didn't feel like charming the crowds today and Sebastian didn't feel like letting him. The two of them wandered down the tightly patrolled streets of Saville row. Occasionally Ciel's eyes would light up as he spotted a window display that caught his eye. Sebastian would happily stand in front of the window and point out different things to Ciel.

Finny, Mey rin and Bard kept their eyes scanning everywhere, determined to keep the backs of their masters safe. Even with Pluto circling the pair like a fighter jet there was a nervousness surrounding the pair. A death threat had been laid on them not hours before. Luckily Sebastian had been fast enough to whip Ciel away before the little boy had been able to string together the hidden meaning.

Happily innocent of the black cloud that loomed ominously over them ciel continued to enjoy his private time with his daddy, singing out occasionally to the few brave reporters who dared to try and breach the bodyguards defences.

Meanwhile a young street kid watched Ciel from the shadows. A scar stood proudly on his cheek, a symbol of initiation into his gang. Black Ribbon, always willing to pitch themselves forward into fame amongst the blacklist for killing a celebrity. They were pitched against the modern society, believing that celebrities were government impurities, bred and designed for turning the public into mindless sheep.

Yet somehow, without their notice, one little street brat had slipped into the arms of their most hated. Sebastian Michalis, the highest paid actor had captured Ciel Phantomhive, or Michalis as was the name that he currently went by.

The kid tilted his hat in a mock salute to the business man that offered him a few dollars and a pat on the head as he went past. Smirking at his ignorance, the child swept up the money and left the pair alone, intending to return back to his master to report his findings before buying himself a pack of cigarettes to beat the hunger pains.

))((**&&^^&*()))(((())

Pluto watched the boy go, sniffing his sharp dirty scent before he left. An instinct in his mind registered danger to his two legged pup, rubbing against Sebastian's leg to mark his territory again his mind archived the scent readying to defend the pup should he ever need to.

Ciel looked down noticing a change in Pluto's circling pattern. But Sebastian only shifted him to the other hip and pointed out a coffee shop to Ciel. "How would you like some hot chocolate my little man?"

"Yeah. Okay. Sounds good…can pluto come in?" Ciel managed to reach down and pet pluto. Sebastian pulled him back up reaching for the sanitizer. "Ciel! We don't touch animals before we eat, it's not healthy. Because we'll get all germy, remember the wriggling little things that we saw in science?"

Ciel squinted his eyes. "But I can't see any on my hand?"

"Ha! I don't think you would be able to see them without a microscope cutie." He ruffled Ciel's hair and whistled for Pluto to follow only letting the dog enter when he got a welcoming nod from the owner.

"Alright, Pluto sit!" He made Pluto sit by the feet of Ciel where he knew that the dog would be most relaxed. For some reason the dog had an unnatural protective instinct over Ciel and Sebastian has learnt not to let Pluto be separated from Ciel. Otherwise chewed furniture is the result.

The waitress brought over coffee for the adults and some hot chocolate with marshmallows for ciel. Seeing the look on Ciel's face Sebastian quickly got a baby cup and poured a little bit of it in there. "You can drink that much Ciel. It's not too tricky." Ciel nodded, less overwhelmed. He still wasn't used to eating huge bits of food at a time and Sebastian didn't particularly encourage him to have big meals either. The both of them were used to things like this happening at a café.

"Alright Ciel so tonight is the big night, you wanna go have a nap before we head out? It's seven thirty and I'll have to wake you up again at eleven o'clock. But then we probably wont go back to sleep until around four am. Alright baby?" Sebastian stroked Ciel's cheek, his little eyes drifting closed after the full day that they'd already had. Sebastian rested him against his chest, letting himself relax after a tense day.

Bard grinned at the two twirling a cake fork between his fingers. The start of the day had been a stressful one with the death threat and everything, but it was all basic body guard 101 stuff, not that there had been a lesson called that, but if there had been it was the stuff he imagined they would have been taught. Stuff like, all the cool bomb threats and diving through windows stays in the movies. Usually they just chilled out like this, there was no-…

A bullet tore open Bard's shirt, red cascaded down his chest. His eyes opened wide and he dived for Sebastian as a torrent of bullets rained down just where his head had been. He covered Ciel and Sebastian in his blood, his muscles rippling and forcing his heart rate up as he found that he couldn't breathe or react more than hold them in place, using his body as a shield.

Ciel whimpered and tried to push him out of the way. But Bard's weight was crushing, his sheer muscle like a brick wall, yet not thick enough to smother the horrific sucking sounds of Bard's gasps as bullets bit through the flesh like cannons through a ship.

Mey rin fell to one knee, loading her rifle to her shoulder and letting fire on the faint shadowed targets she could see. Her unnaturally good vision couldn't pick up anything more than an outline so she found herself shooting as blindly as she had when she was a child. She knew instinctively that there was no chance she had hit them as the bullets smashed the café.

Finnian ran through the smashed glass firing wildly as he did. He'd known better then to allow them onto an empty street. That was an easy fight for an assassin, no casualties or slip ups to worry about. Especially not for an assassin who wasn't new to the business, which this fighter was certainly not.

Before any of them had gotten close enough to catch a glimpse of the perpetrator they had disappeared leaving naught but a single tied black ribbon behind. The words 'taenia' scrawled in white along the bow.


	3. Chapter 3

Sebastian was met by Claude in their apartment. Ciel and Alois ran around the island bench chasing each other and being as noisy as possible before they got told off.

Sebastian let them knowing that Ciel needed to be a child for little bit, especially as he tried to work his head around what had happened earlier that week.

It had taken two days for Claude to be able to make it over with Alois by his side. By that time he had chewed his nails with worry, pulled at his hair, not shaven or slept. Sebastian chuckled as he took care of his boyfriend.

Finnian laughed and joined in with the two children, chasing them around the whole of the apartment under the watchful eye of mey rin.

Bard was in hospital in a critical yet stable position. As a temporary measure the undertaker had hired a new body guard. The bodyguard was strange, snake tattoos adorning his arms and speaking in third person. But he had not given them cause for trouble and looked after Ciel like a doting uncle. So as far as Sebastian and Claude were concerned he did the job fine.

Pluto barked at Finny, stopping Ciel from running into a table with a glass vase with his own huge body. Ciel hugged the big fluffy dog tightly, laughing off the rest of his energy.

Alois sighed exhausted after his running and leant against Claude. Claude looked down and rolled his eyes. "Remember when you said my workaholic life was over…you were right." He smirked and lifted Alois up onto his lap. "Not that I'm complaining. I wouldn't trade this for the world."

Sebastian grinned. "You wouldn't trade you attention seeking children, alcoholic boyfriend or assassination attempts for the world, charming." He raised his glass to Claude who kicked him in the shins.

"Jerk, you know what I meant."

Looking over at Ciel who was being slobbered on by pluto he chuckled. "Indeed I do…"

Mey rin leant on the kitchen bench. "As much and all as I hate to break up the family moment sirs, what are you going to do?"

Snake nodded behind her, offering his support. Angela looked over at the two, "Yes it is a concern of ours. This is the first time a sniper man has been so serious and organised. I don't think this was a run of the mill hate crime Sebastian."

"Well what can I do!? I don't even know what they wanted." Sebastian frowned he didn't understand why he wa the one trying to deal with the copious amounts of hate from everyone when he didn't even know what had really transpired himself.

"Money, they are always after money." Finny had finally pulled Ciel out from Pluto's tongue and started cleaning him up.

"But they left no instruct-" A knock at the door set everyone on edge. They weren't supposed to have anyone coming up.

A smart looking man entered the apartment, covered by three bodyguards all obviously armed and ready to shoot. "Hello boys. What a pleasure it is to run into you today." He sat down and made himself comfortable.

"Who the hell are you!" Finny had Ciel behind his back and Pluto growling by his side.

Claude held up his hand. "You have entered private property. I must ask you to state you business and leave."

Unperturbed he brought out a black ribbon. "I am from black ribbon. You may have noticed our minor slip up yesterday. I do apologise for that, there was a minor argument in our little family you see."

Ciel's eyes widened and he sprinted to his room, Pluto hot on his heels. Everyone heard the click of the lock as Ciel locked his room shut.

"Seems like that jogged Ciel's memory, I own the gang that took away his eye, rather unfortunate that." Sebastian reeled back as the full meaning of the statement hit him.

"What do you mean that you run that gang? The leader was killed." Sebastian leant forward ready to spring. Mey rin placed a warning hand on his shoulder.

"Yes, we never thanked you for that did we? Rather lax of me, I apologise. I'll send some flowers over some time." He shifted crossing one leg over the other. "But first, allow me to introduce myself. I am the Boss of Blackribbon, I have no name so don't bother asking. We have existed for years in the dark with the intention of removing those who flaunted money and good wealth in front of the poor with no care. Obviously of course celebrities always make it to the top of our hit list. Yet you recently skyrocketed when we discovered the identity of your little son."

Claude tensed and sent Alois to the arms of Angela. "What do you want with Ciel?"

Boss waved his hand dismissively. "No! no, nothing, nothing. He seems to keep quiet a healthy fear of me which is fair enough really."

"Then why shoot us." Snake leant forward his gravelly tone stunning the others into silence.

"As I began to say, we had a minor argument. See we don't really mind, Ciel has good home yada yada no more pickpocketing blah blah. But, the other half didn't see that way and wanted to keep what was ours…ours. And so now you have the reason for the shooting. A threat to us really."

Sebastian stood. "I'm going to comfort my son. Snake, follow me." The bodyguard nodded and followed Sebastian into Ciel's room waiting for the boy to unlock it before Sebastian pulled him into a hug and left the rest behind.

"So anyway, we have no control over whoever shot you." The boss smiled cheerily. "Don might. But I don't. Just thought I'd let you know you're now the most key part to a gang war."

Claude dropped back onto his seat. "Oh god, what the hell do I do."

Boss shrugged. "Not my problem." The he turned and left.


	4. Chapter 4

Gang wars were funny things. They could continue for years and nobody would know except for those involved. But there were times when they could be on such a huge scale that petty fights escalated to that similar to the cold war in Russia.

Thankfully this was not one of those times. Sebastian kept Ciel a little closer, bodyguards just that little bit tenser and Claude made sure to watch his deals for traps even more critically.

Alois kept his arms wrapped around his brother, snuggling close for the warmth. Ciel was wishing he could be asleep, worn out after a day's adventuring around New York. They could hear Sebastian and Claude fighting in the room next to them.

Sebastian was trying to convince Claude that it was safe for them to stay in New York. He had a promotional tour to complete, so not only would it be bad press for them to leave but Ciel rarely got to spend time playing tourist in the cities that they visited.

Claude wanted them to leave they were a key part in a new gang war after all. Ciel and Alois listened to the conversation swapping worried looks as the argument got more and more heated.

"Claude, be reasonable. This is about a small group mucking around on the streets, not countries sending soldiers." Sebastian took a sip of his red wine attempting to encourage Claude into relaxing.

Claude was not intending to relax until he had Ciel and Sebastian on a plane to England with his son. "You know exactly how I feel about this. Now you have to young boys in there Sebastian, one of which idolises you. You are responsible for two lives…and you've already screwed that up once." Claude's voice dropped in tone as he spoke of when Sebastian left to get drunk and party without Ciel in his thoughts.

The room's temperature dropped. "Don't you dare say that again Claude, Ciel means the world to me he's my baby boy. What happened back then was a mistake and it will never, never! Happen ever again."

"I don't know Sebastian, this decision seems like you can't put what's best for your son before your need to muck around in New York."

"I am not mucking around in New York, how you dare suggest that I will never know. Claude you need to stop mothering my child, if you want to take Alois back then that is fine. But me and Ciel, we're staying here. There are plenty of opportunities for him here and other children for him to mix with. He is perfectly safe in my care." Sebastian glared down Claude.

His boyfriend stared back coolly. "Then I will have Ciel removed from your care."

Alois turned wide eyed to Ciel who was staring at the fighting pair in shock, not bothering to hide his eavesdropping.

Sebastian smiled at Ciel quickly before turning back to Claude. "You will not take my son. He's mine Ciel will stay with me in New York. He deserves time to look at all the sights."

"You are being selfish Sebastian he is nothing more than a child. You want to keep a child in a place where we have confirmation that we are in the middle of a gang war. Those are not fun or safe things Sebastian I want you and Ciel out of here."

"Oh so you want me out of here now to? What are you going to do Claude, drag me by my hair? This is pathetic, I am a grown man and a father, and I can make decisions for myself and my son."

"You can make decisions can you? Well fine choose. Choose either New York by yourself or England with me, Ciel and Alois." Claude folded his arms, stood up and lifted Ciel off the couch propping him against his hip. "Quick make a choice, because if you don't choose I'm gone." He held a hand out to Alois who scrambled off the couch and took it.

Ciel frowned he didn't like being used as a bargaining chip at all. "Put me down." He swung his legs and pushed away from Claude's shoulder, but Claude was locked in a stare down with Sebastian.

"Dad… put Ciel down." Alois tugged on Claude's blazer trying to get his attention.

Sebastian strode over and went to take Ciel but Claude took a step back. "I guess you've made your decision then. My attorney will be in contact." Claude pulled them out frustrated with Sebastian.

Open mouthed at what was happening Ciel swung his arms and legs wildly doing his best to beat Claude off him.

Snake, Mey-rin, Finnian and Hanna froze unsure of what to do. No fight had ever occurred between Sebastian and Claude, certainly not one involving the children. Pluto however was only interested in keeping his master safe, he leapt forward and bit Claude's leg, tugging on it until he let go of Ciel.

Ciel landed on his feet, his adrenaline rushing as everyone started making too much noise and touching him too much. Everything mushed together he looked around blankly; Pluto's bark the only registering noise. Taking it as a warning sign Ciel jumped up and ran doggedly for the stairs, thumping down them with Finnian chasing after him until he eventually spilled out onto the street.

Automatically he turned left, heading towards the darker shadier places where he could find somewhere to hide.


	5. Chapter 5

Alois managed to fight his way through the fight Claude and Sebastian to chase after Ciel and his bodyguard.

Finnian didn't notice him as he ran. He knew that Ciel was good at hiding because he was so small so he'd learnt to watch where his brother looked carefully because that was always a clue about where he was going.

Ciel looked to an old abandoned alleyway with a huge dumpster in it. He dropped underneath a car but Alois continued straight to where he saw Ciel look.

Sure enough thirty seconds later Ciel's skinny body slithered on top of him. He waited until the sharp breaths slowed into more even intakes and then spoke. "Ciel its Alois, You okay?"

"No…I just ran away." Ciel sounded a little shocked at what he had done.

"I think I did too…that wasn't a very good idea." Alois whispered back pulling himself up so that he could curl up to stay warm.

"What should we do?" There was a little sniffle and Alois leant over to hug Ciel. "Well maybe if we hop out we could go find Finny and explain what happened to him?"

"No, he'll just be all mad that I ran without him there to protect me." Ciel wiped dirt across his cheek as he tried to wipe away a tear.

Alois hummed trying to think of a way they could escape being scolded and still get back to Claude and Sebastian.

There was a loud grating sound and moonlight entered the pitch black, smelly cavern.

"Well, look see here mate. What do we got? Is that a bunch of me street rats?" There was a sharp poke to Alois's shoulder and he spun around and growled. "Back off!"

"Well I'll be. Certainly sounds like one of 'em. Could use some little hands couldn't we. Right…" A dirty face peered into the rubbish dump, looking more like a dirty angel as he was given a halo by the moon. He lifted Ciel and Alois out by the back of their shirts and looked them over.

Ciel was suddenly very aware that they were dressed in designer labels. He could only hope that he wouldn't pick up on it in the grim light.

Alois struggled and fought. "Hey! Put me down! I don't know who you are, go away." Ciel stayed quiet assessing the situation as best he could.

The man slapped Alois's cheek. "Shut it. I could kill you just as easily I'm that bored."

Ciel pinched Alois's arm to stop him crying. The blonde had never been hit by anyone before, Claude refused to use spanking as punishment and Ciel wasn't strong enough to hit him hard when they fought over toys.

There was a stunned look on his face and Ciel used the opportunity to push a fake story about themselves towards the man. "Sorry…sir, we borrowed some new clothes today."

There was a chuckle, "you borrowed 'em did yah brat? You mean you stole 'em. What a dirty thief, I should take you to the policemen shouldn't I. Them nice fella's I wonder what they'd do to little ones like you."

"Ha! You fool, we're –"Ciel slapped a hand over Alois's mouth before he could finish that sentence.

"No one sir, we're no one. The police wouldn't do anything about us." Ciel muttered out quickly, nodding to Alois as he finally realised he needed to shut up.

"Damn right they wouldn't do anything. Because no one cares about you brats, now give me a hand with something and I might be able to fix you up with something yeah?"

Alois took the lead, pushing his brother behind him protectively. "Fine, I can do whatever it is."

"Good, good I'm glad you can." He grabbed them both by the arm and dragged them off, his well-dressed partner following silently behind.

They were shown to an abandoned building kids could be seen lounging around everywhere. Most of them were filthy, emaciated and had dark looks in their eyes.

Immediately they swarmed over to Ciel and Alois, murmuring amongst themselves about their appearance.

The man shooed them off he pushed Ciel towards his partner and locked Alois's wrists in his own hand. "Now, we've got your friend their see? We can do lots of nasty things to him can't we?" His face split into a nasty, dry smile. "I want you to go out and sell these candies for me…but don't sell them to children. Sell them to grownups. You tell them it's twenty dollars for ten grams you got it? And be back with all of it gone by next morning or the other kid is dead you hear?"

Ciel called out to Alois. "Just say yes and go! Copy what the others do." Then he was shoved face first into the concrete.

Alois gasped and dashed to help his brother but he was held back by his jacket. "Go and sell the candy boy or I'll do a lot worse than that to him."

It didn't take any more for Alois to sprint off, following the swarm of drug sellers as he went. It was his duty to protect his little brother so that was what he would do, no matter what it took.

Meanwhile Ciel lay on the ground, cursing himself for not running when they had the chance.


	6. Chapter 6

Sebastian was having a nervous breakdown. They called the police the minute that Finnian returned and told them he'd lost Ciel.

Then Hanna had screamed realising that Alois wasn't anywhere to be seen either.

Just like that their fight had caused them to lose everything that they placed value in. Ciel and Alois were gone in the middle of the street, with rabid fan girls who knew everything about them to two street gangs fighting.

Claude was facing the wall just staring at it blankly. The two were refusing to talk both blaming the other for what had happened.

Snake and Finnian were discussing things with the police while Mey rin and Hana scoured the dark streets searching for them desperately.

But what they never did was check the abandoned suburbs. The ones that had been labelled slums, the police told them they never would have strayed that far. Plus it was a safe area, nothing would have happened.

Alois rubbed his stomach, he was starving hungry but the girl he had been following was still dealing with the drug packets. He took the money from the group of college students and handed them the 60 grams.

They giggled and waved him off as they handed it around the group. Alois rolled his eyes at them, a dark voice in his head whispering that they were stupid nothings.

He was lucky, his blonde hair and eyes made him an easy attraction. Although he did catch a few creepy looks, it was mostly just useful for wheedling the money. He took to the whole thing easily once he remembered that if he wasn't successful Ciel would be dead.

The image of his brother last time he'd been injured badly haunted his head. He held no desire to see that again so soon. He checked the bag he'd been given to carry them in, it was all empty. Sighing in relief he sprinted back through the streets to where he'd been taken before.

He was stopped by a group of larger kids. "Hey blondie, you look too clean to be a street kid. You a rich run away? Think you're cool and tough hanging out with us?"

They shoved him into the ground and kicked him hard in the ribs. Alois yelled out in pain.

It made the leader snigger. "Oh look the rich kid is gonna cry…come on! Let's make him cry for his mommy!"

The whole group laughed and threw themselves into beating Alois up.

By the end of it he could only lay there, his mind buzzing with shock that thankfully covered up the pain. He could guess that when he felt the pain it would be the worst thing he'd ever felt. Being the illegitimate child of Claude Faustus had meant that he was spoilt child. Loved and spoilt, he'd never had anything worse than a scolding before in his life.

Eventually they all left, shoving dirt in his mouth and tearing off his jacket for themselves. He just lay there, unable to do anything else, until the girl he had followed came back.

"Pick yourself up rich kid. If you don't get that money in they're gonna end that friend of yours." She grabbed his cut arm and yanked him into a standing position. Alois feel back to his knees and gasped on the ground. The full extent of the pain hit him now. "Ah.. nngg, can't the pain."

"Listen rich kid, I don't know where you come from or why you're here and I don't care either, but stop acting like something is wrong and hand the money in. Or they'll kill you and your friend." She nudged him in the ribs before spinning around and walking off.

Alois stayed on his hands and knees for a bit longer before forcing himself to stand up and walk. He cried every step of the way, barely managing to press the bag of money into his hands before he passed out onto the floor.

"Aww look how useless the kid is." Mark pushed the fallen boy with his foot. "Alright Ciel, I've had my fun with your friend, it's time to finish playing with you."

Ciel had a bag over his head, covered in blood stains, his shorts and shirt had been torn off him revealing scratched and bruised skin.

"Now Ciel," Mark knelt down and patted the little knee in mock kindness. "You tried to steal my prized weapon didn't you. Did you think you were clever following orders of the little boss you had? Bet you thought you'd be praised if you did it." He hit Ciel hard in the temple.

"Then you were stupid enough to get caught. The others told me how you failed to run." He smirked. "By some sheer luck you found your way into a rich man's hands. Does he treat you like a son Ciel, do you call him daddy?"

Ciel whimpered he did want Sebastian; he wanted to go back and hug everything near him knowing that it was safe.

Mark continued ignoring the whimpers. "You're a traitor Ciel. A naughty little traitor and look what you've done, you've joined my little gang war haven't you."

"I'm going to put you and your little friend through hell, if you try to return I'm going to snap every bone in your body so many times that they all turn to powder." He pulled the bag off Ciel's head. "Of course your reward for being a good boy will be being allowed to live until the next day. Scum like you should be grateful for that privilege. You don't deserve to live Ciel, it's only by my grace that you do. Understand?"

Ciel nodded, his swollen eyes squinting at Alois who was in a horrific state. He wondered whether he'd even be able to wake up.

The other children in the room watched Ciel they'd all been present the day that Sebastian had taken him. Back when Ciel had been a street kid, surviving on nothing and refusing all help. They nodded to each other; they'd return him back to the way he had been as a street kid. They liked him that way.


	7. Chapter 7

It had been three weeks and Sebastian was a complete mess. Claude had had him forcefully sent back to England where he would be safe. Bard and Mey rin watched him closely every day to make sure that he didn't try and get back to New York.

Claude was assured that he had done the right thing by his boyfriend, he was sure that there would be an awful lot of backlash once the story got out, but he couldn't do anything but his best. Right now he just had a plan to get each one of his family members out and back to England. Starting obviously with Sebastian and then the two children.

He was getting more and more worried, there had been some reports of a ciel look alike but none about Alois since the day that they went missing. He knew that Ciel had always retained some of his street child persona, something that he thought was a valuable asset to the child. Yet he had no doubts that Ciel wanted to return home to his father, he knew that Alois would too. So there had to be something very strange about their disappearance. Of course Claude could only hope that it wasn't related to the gang war that they were supposedly involved in.

Ciel did his best to cover Alois up in tattered clothing, his brother looked totally different. He'd been told to disguise him to avoid getting caught. He'd dyed his hair a dark brunette and his crooked nose and bruises made him look different to the usual pampered English boy.

The two of them were running around doing drug sales, but Ciel knew that they were really biding their time until they could be used as bait for the other gang. He wasn't looking forward to it, but what could he do. He was scared to find someone, he had seen the police with photos of him and Alois all over the newspapers, but they'd disguised themselves well. Plus, what if they hurt Claude and Sebastian. He and Alois had agreed that they couldn't do anything.

Claude walked up and down the streets, he had just got off the phone from a distraught and angry Sebastian. He felt bad for pushing him out of the way of everything, but what could he do. He had a duty of care to Sebastian, whether the man liked it or not. Claude had made up his mind, he was going to find the kids today, take them home, deal with Sebastian and then let everything settle back down to normal.

His phone buzzed and he checked it sighing when it was another text from Sebastian asking if he'd found the kids yet. Deciding not to answer he put the phone back in his coat pocket and continued looking, searching all the kids on the street with hawk eyes, tearing apart what he saw with his mind searching it for evidence.

On the outside Claude looked more pristine and organised than ever but on the inside his OCD was a raging force. He had wiped down the counter in his apartment five times this morning, combed his hair sixty, brushed the lint off his coat and ran his hand up and down the wood of the door three times before opening it.

Hana had noticed his behaviour and was worrying, naturally but there wasn't much she could do about it without being yelled at. Everyone searching for the two boys were stressed and frustrated.

She knew that they wanted them back more than anything. She turned her hear from side to side quickly in an attempt to shake away all the negative thoughts. She was a nanny, she couldn't help but worry about her charge, and he was young and innocent. Even darling Ciel was more childlike than he was often portrayed. He had his moments of maturity but he was just a little child.

She caught two pairs of bright eyes following her from the corner of the street. One of them was hiding behind the other. She smiled the taller one was sweet, reminding her of Alois in a lot of ways. Except he had bruises everywhere and his hair was a rich brown. She walked over to them slowly, holding out a hand as if to keep them calm.

They watched her, their eyes slowly widening in fear. Before she was a stone's throw away the youngest took off racing down the street. She'd only just caught a glimpse of dirty skin and an eye patch before the brunette had stumbled after him calling out for his friend. "Ciel!"

Hana watched them go, "I guess Ciel must be popular name no…" She blinked, looked down the road, stood back up straight and turned to Claude. "Oh god. I. Oh. It. Nhh." She passed out from shock, luckily Mey rin caught her and scent several policemen after them.

Claude was bowing quickly to Hana's unconscious form before he took off after Ciel, wondering who the brown haired boy could be.

AN: Psshh. Lolrofl It's another cliffie. Don't I suck…guess I need some review cookies to get me writing….REVIEW PEOPLE!


	8. Chapter 8

It didn't take long for the police tagging alongside Claude to chase Ciel and Alois.

The pair raced through the busy streets, Ciel tugging Alois along with him. The two were in bad condition and got out of breath quickly, easily knocked out of the way by stronger citizens.

Nobody paid much attention to them, but when the police shouted after them, hands come out of everywhere, diving and grabbing at the greasy hair of the two boys.

They managed to evade them just enough to make the push towards the house where they had been saying. All the other kids dived to where they couldn't be seen.

Ciel pushed Alois into the ground hiding him from view.

The police stormed in kicking pieces of rubble and filth aside. They spoke to each other in code, mentally filling away the faces of the children that they saw for future reference. Right now though it was all about retrieving the two celebrity children. They were a code one alert.

Their parents were fretting at home and open to any kind of attack or vague threat on them and with their influence on society around them, that was a total danger in itself.

One of the older gruffer, policemen walked over to where Alois and ciel were hiding and picked them up, fighting and all by the scruff of their necks.

He turned around and walked back to the car, the hairs on the back of his neck prickling, but all he focused on was getting the kids in the car. Just get them in the car he told himself, you can lock the doors and get someone else to drive it. Then fight. You can fight them off then, just get the kids in the car.

And he almost did make it. But a low, scratchy voice stopped him. "Where do you think you are taking those two sweet children officer." He reached out a grimy hand and ran it up and down the bruised back of Alois. "They're my little things, I don't take very good care of them I know. But they just run around so fast, and my big 'ol heart. What can I do?"

There was a firm hand holding Claude in place but he still yelled out. "That's my child you're talking about! He isn't yours and where is Alois."

The brunette child turned his bright green eyes to Claude, looking very hurt.

The two stared at each other for a moment until recognition clicked behind Claude's eyes and he started thrashing hard to get towards his son.

Within seconds the slimy man had dropped his act of care and had a gun trained on Alois's head. "So this is your special one is he? Well, can't say he's of much use to me. Go on take him. Officer put the two children down, or the little one has his brains blown out."

The officer lowered them to the ground, cursing himself for not getting them into the car fast enough. He could have just run, taken the bullets and pushed them in the car. At least then there might have been a positive outcome from the situation, but right now he had a bad feeling that at least one child was going to die.

Alois felt the butt of the gun nudge him over to Claude, but Ciel was held back. "Oh no. This one stays here. He's the most important. Aren't you? You started this mess by stealing someone's weapon. Mine to be exact. Now you little brat, I'm here peddling small time drugs. I was a big gang master! I had hundreds at my disposal, an online and offline empire. How dare you take it from me!" He struck Ciel hard across the dace and let kicks rain down into his rib cage.

Alois watched it happen dully. He'd given up defending his brother, just as Ciel has given up on defending him. They were too easily over powered, fixing up the cuts was the easiest.

The two of them had grown closer then they had ever imagined, it wasn't a shallow like or love any more. It was a mutual understanding, it was an understanding of why Ciel curled up on the hard floor by himself some nights and why Alois never wanted to grow up. The outside was a hard, cruel world and New York life was the hardest of them all. It was famous for the city the surrounded it. The people that filled it were known to have no time, gangs were rife and drugs were good.

Claude however had learnt no such things he yelled and fought against those who were holding him in place until he and Alois were ushered into a police van and driven away while they dealt with the rest of the criminal mess.

Sebastian nearly tore his hair out with worry. He knew that something wasn't right or safe, nothing felt right to him. He couldn't sit sleep or eat. All he could do was promise himself that Claude would bring Ciel back and then he would just hold Ciel.

He thought over and over why everything seemed to go wrong. All he had wanted was for Ciel to see New York like a normal tourist, or as normal as he could get. It made him wonder whether all this fame was worth anything. Maybe they should move somewhere remote so that nobody knew who they were and Ciel could just live a normal life there.

But he knew it was too late. He'd introduced him to a life of fame and it would stay like that forever.

Of course there was always the option of sending Ciel off to a boarding school where kids would just treat him like everyone else. One of those posh ones where everyone came from money.

But Sebastian couldn't bear the thought of sending him away, or letting him become a snob. He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face, the last update he had from Claude was four hours ago, telling him that he had Alois at the police station and they were getting him cleaned up now. He hadn't mentioned Ciel and that made his blood pressure rise more.


	9. Chapter 9

Ciel whimpered, at least there hadn't been whips or bullets involved. It could be worse. It could be worse. Ciel promised himself that he would be okay. He didn't know how he could be okay, especially since his entire body was numb, but he would be okay. That was a promise he was making to himself. He would be okay.

The police looked at the wailing boy on the ground. They had to wait for the ambulance to arrive before they could do anything. But they weren't even sure if they could do anything. It looked as if Ciel had lost all contact or connection to the world around him. His eyes were wild and they flickered from side to side. Everything that touched or brushed past him seemed to set him off in another wailing fit. It was so pitiful to see the child in such a state. Every officer there, disregarding their usual personalities wanted to do whatever they could to stop the child from feeling such misery.

Finally the paramedics arrived and managed to coo to him enough to get him strapped onto a stretcher and into the van.

One of the paramedics started stroking his hair and telling him exactly what was going on as a plan to help him calm down. All of them had experiences with kids who were this traumatised, it was unfortunate but in New York it was becoming the norm.

Another worker soothed down the cuts and sores as best as they could, trying to take away the pain. There was a drip inserted in his arm working morphine into his body and the driver turned some music on so that there was something else for Ciel to focus on.

Everyone in the ambulance was doing their best to keep Ciel conscious and aware of his surroundings. One of the biggest threats to Ciel's life right now wasn't anyone aiming and shooting him but was a coma. It had the potential to heal Ciel's brain or make him shut off memories that were too much for him to handle. They had no idea how many memories Ciel could lose or how important they could be. They'd had patients regress up to forty years before they didn't want to have to go through the same process with Ciel who would most likely be under heavy media pressure to be better in a week.

When Sebastian got the text the he could visit Ciel in hospital he didn't wait to tell the pilot where they were going he just told him to take off and not to stop until they reached New York Central hospital.

They plane ride seemed to take an eternity and Sebastian ran through every memory where Ciel had been hurt and somehow every injury he remembered Ciel having morphed itself into one big mental picture and he refused to let himself cry. He had to be strong for his little boy; all that mattered was his Ciel. He had been apart from him for so long, he couldn't even bring himself to hate Claude for taking him out of New York, and he had to be there. He had to be there quickly.

Seven and a half hours was too long for Sebastian, he fidgeted and argued the whole way there. The situation in his head growing worse every hour that he spent thinking about it.

Ciel was in a coma. The medics had done their best to stop it from happening, but the pull of healing sleep had been to much for Ciel to fight against after all he had been through All that anyone could do now was wait and see what the result would be when Ciel woke up.

They had done all the scans for damage to the brain and found nothing but minor bruising on the temple. There had been no tissue damage or internal bleeding.

Claude sat in the middle of his two sons. Looking at them both and thinking back to the fight that he had with Sebastian.

It hadn't been the best of nights, he was already upset with Sebastian for taking Ciel to New York without arranging extra security while he was there. As good as their body guards may be, they were in an unfamiliar area that was bound to cause slight problems. Then when there was the shooting in the café not only did he fail to come home but he still refused to arrange proper security. He git that Sebastian trusted his bodyguards and who they chose but someone to watch over them in every building was not much to ask.

Plus he never even made a schedule for him and Ciel. Claude would never know if they were where they should be on time.

So an argument between them had started. They always agreed that Claude was over protective and his OCD often got the best of him when it came to things like Sebastian. But to Claude that was no excuse for not being prepared, especially when they had been explicitly informed that they were part of a gang war.

After the fight they realised that their two children had gone missing. They'd searched everywhere, until Claude decided that he'd bring the police into it.

Sebastian hadn't wanted to stop searching he had been desperate to find them both and bring them back to safety. Claude however was suffering from his anxiety and Sebastian wanting to wander around the dark street in the middle of the night did nothing to help him. So he'd refused and gotten Snake to drag Sebastian back to the apartment.

When Claude woke up at Five AM the next day the spot in his arms where Sebastian should be was empty and Mey Rin informed him that he and Finnian had left an hour ago to go and find Ciel and Alois again.

Claude had been so angry at Sebastian. There was this one thing in his OCD where if he didn't know where someone he cared about was, he had to find out where they were. It was supposedly because of something that happened to him when he was a child but he didn't really care where it came from, the fact was that it was there and Sebastian should know to respect that and at least leave him a note as to where he'd be when he decided to disappear.

It had only been when he came back that Claude had bullied Snake and Finnian into marching Sebastian out of the hotel and pushing him into a plane to be taken back to England.

There had been a lot of angry texts. But Claude had taken it on the shoulder and satisfied himself with the fact that Sebastian was safe.

Now he kept himself from crying by remembering that it was only four more hours until he would have Sebastian by his side and his two children on the road to recovery.


	10. Chapter 10

AUTHOR: Hashi-Hashi

TITLE: Broken Family Life

DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters nor the original storyline, the series family life held on the Hashi-Hashi profile was not meant to infringe on copyright.

(())((()(())))))))))))(((((((((((_(((((((((((()))) )))))))))((((((((((()))))))))_(((()))

Finnian let his charge chatter away happily to him. "Hey Finnian, do you think when we get home me and Daddy can go play tennis? Because dad was super good last time and I want to play with him again. Or you could join in! It was awesome when you and me teamed up against daddy – then we kicked his but!"

"Mhmm, we sure did." Finnian's eyes scanned over the woman who had been following them for the past half hour. "Hey kid come here." He brought Ciel in closer to him and took his hand. "Excuse me ma'am I seem to recognise you. Could I help you in anyway?"

"I'm assuming that you are the bodyguard of Ciel Faustus?"

"Michaelis." Finnian fixed her with a questioning look. "I'm sorry ma'am but I must inform you that this is pri-"

"I am well aware that this is private property. I'm the personal lawyer of Claude Faustus, you and Ciel are to come with me."

Ciel stared blankly at the women in the black and white plain suit. "What on earth are you talking about? My father is in England and that's where I'm going. There's nowhere else, whoever has sent you can send you on home!" Ciel waved his hand in a 'go away' motion keen to get rid of her.

Finnian gave her an apologetic smile and started to guide his charge back towards the plane. "I'm sorry ma'am but my charge really is right, we have one direct '_private'_ flight to England where Ciel's father is waiting…impatiently." Finny rolled his eyes as once again his phone buzzed with a frustrated text from Sebastian asking him if Ciel was still okay. Deciding that the best course of action was just to call his boss Finny picked up the phone. "Ciel is fine sir, we are ju- uh! Hey!"

The women held up one hand. "I'm assuming that you're Sebastian Michaelis and if you're not I don't particularly care. I'm Claude Faustus's lawyer, and at this moment in time I'm his freaking courier and I'm picking up a delivery of whiny brat. Ciel Faustus will be in the care of Claude Faustus until further notice after court." She motioned for Finny to follow her. Unfortunately the blonde was more than familiar with custody battles in celebrity families. He picked up Ciel who rolled his eyes and huffed indignantly. "I don't want to go Finnian!"

The women kept walking ahead of them her ass covered in tight fabric and Finnian smirked to himself as he named her tight-ass. "I know kid, but we're just detouring to see your other dad, that's pretty special yah?"

Ciel squirmed, "We already saw him last week and Aunties, and Uncles, and press reporters and fans – what more do we have to see before it's home time?"

Finnian resisted the urge to topple the women over with her ridiculous heels and didn't bother to stop his eyes rolling, "I don't know little man, but it's gonna take a while no matter what."

"I don't think I like the sound of that."

Finnian nodded in agreement with his little charge and set him down on the ground so that they could both jump into the car.

When they were in the car the lawyer turned to Ciel. "So here's the deal kiddo, you and your little brother belong to Daddy Faustus and Mr Michaelis just doesn't want you two to be happy. So what you're gonna do is run around pedalling whatever little story your crazy tiny mind can come up with about why daddy Faustus is the best."

Ciel turned his face away from her and ignored her for the whole car ride, so the woman turned to Finnian and started briefing him on his role in the case. As it was he didn't really have to do much other than stay with Ciel and say yes or no every so often. Considering the huge roles that he'd had in other custody trials he was satisfied with his part.

((((((((((())))))))))))))))))))(((((((((((())))))) )_))))))))(((((((((((())))))))))))))((((((((((_(

Eventually the car pulled up and Ciel could tumble out of the car. The Faustus Mansion in America stood tall and Ciel strolled in easily, ignoring the security on the doors. A tall door man standing by the polished wooden doors recognised Ciel from the file of people that he had to memorise. He nodded once to the security camera in the corner to assure them that it was okay before he moved down the stairs to greet Ciel. "Hello young master, how are we today?"

Ciel shrugged, "I'm supposed to be seeing my dad here."

The doorman nodded and took Ciel's little hand, "Alright then, let's go find him shall we or would you like to go see your brother first?"

Finnian moved up quickly, "I think that's a good idea, although if you wouldn't mind I would like to report to Mr Faustus in regards to my charge's situation."

The doorman paused before nodding and leading them both through a long hallway, lined with the kinds of family portraits that Ciel was convinced had moving eyes. "Master Alois your younger brother is here to play!"

In an instant Alois was out of his room, his brown hair flying as he ran straight into Ciel. "Brother! You came on the best day, my hair is going to be dyed all blonde again and look my eyes are back to normal!" Alois pointed and Ciel could see that they were indeed back to their familiar green colour.

"That's nice Alois…what's in your hand?" Alois looked down to see what it was then grinned and shoved it in Ciel's face, "glow wormies! Blarghhhhh arghhh"

Ciel turned and ran familiar with how the game worked. "Ahh! No I'm gonna get eaten! Alois, Alois! You can't catch me, whoa no!" Ciel took off yelling out random comments as the two of them ran around the mansion, sliding beneath tables and vases with ninja expertise learnt from Snake Sebastian's other bodyguard and Finnian when they mucked around.

Finnian watched the two of them proud of what they had learnt for a moment and chuckled. "Be careful guys!"

Light footsteps came up behind Finnian, "I'm watching them" Hana giggled and kissed his cheek lightly before dashing forward to catch a vase. "Honestly Alois and Ciel! No don't go into that room!" She sprinted off running as fast as she could in her little slip on shoes.

Finnian chuckled to himself and took the marble polished stairs up to Claude's office. He walked down the hallways trying to ignore the creepy tribal relics that Claude was so fascinated by. He rolled his shoulders trying to relieve some of the tension that had built up in them. Honestly this whole thing was a mess, he wasn't even sure how two kids could be at the head of so much of it. "Honestly those little guys are just…" There was a resounding tinkle of shattering china followed by protests of who broke it. '…lil' monsters." Shaking his head fondly Finnian rapped on the door of Claude's study.

"Come in Finnian." Finny opened the door and offered his second boss a grin, "you can just call me Finny sir." He helped himself to the comfy guest chair in front of his desk. "So care to fill the body guard in on what is going on?"

Claude raised his eyebrows at Finnian's remarks but didn't comment on it. "I'm merely making good on my promise, if Sebastian wasn't reasonable and continued with his protesting I said I would take custody of Ciel and Alois. He was flying Ciel back against my wishes and you know as well as I the things that he has been telling Ciel about me."

Claude folded his arms and leant forward. "My sons are very important to me Finnian, you protect one of them so obviously you will be included in this battle, but one thing you are not to do is interfere. You are Ciel's bodyguard, an anonymous shield I have noticed the two of you have quite a frivolous relationship, I really can't allow that. He's my son you see and it simply won't do for him to be attached, he will obviously be leaving for boarding school soon. It really just won't do for a scene to be made when it is time for you to leave. Obviously I will give the nursemaid the same instructions – was there anything else that you wished to ask me?"

Shocked Finnian shook his head. "No sir, I will get right onto it."


	11. Chapter 11

Sebastian sighed and walked up and down the length of the small waiting room impatiently. He had not heard anything from Finnian since his phone call was interrupted by the lawyer.

He ran his hands through his hair and growled deeply at the pale blue walls and dark grey carpet of the bare room that were causing him more frustration than he had ever thought possible. Although it is more likely that the frustration he is feeling was because of Claude.

He didn't know why Claude was so insistent on getting his own way. Sebastian had been sure that they had dealt with all of his problems three months into their relationship. The most prominent of which had been the OCD that had put their complete relationship on the rocks.

Claude's OCD had been at its peak when he was unable to write Sebastian's name without alphabetising it. It had been a huge problem for him in business meetings and when he had to present Sebastian for auditions. Especially since no one forgave faults or mental disorders in their field of work. So the two of them had agreed to work on the problem together and see whether they could deal with it without the use of professional help.

Sebastian had slowly convinced the man that he could trust Sebastian, it had taken him a while to understand but he knew now that the OCD centred on trust issues. It was difficult to explain even to himself but Sebastian summarised in his brain that due to Claude's less than supportive family and friends throughout his life he'd taught himself that mistakes were what killed him therefore perfection was the only option for survival. It took a lot for Claude to trust Sebastian but once that trust had been earned Sebastian was relieved to say that his boyfriend had stuck by him for many years even after he had done his best to shake him off. During his alcoholism, the drugs and the girls his manager had stuck by his side. Claude had even told Sebastian off, something that not even his parents had the ability to do.

Sure his mother was a tough woman who still scared Ciel with her strict view on things but as a mother she had let Sebastian get away with doing everything from terrorising nurse maids to drinking himself to an early death. It was a heavy lesson for his mother to learn and she still hadn't managed it and so Claude was his rock when things were wrong and he was tempted to go flying off the rails again. Sebastian's managers had made the decision to take in a child to raise his reputation and it was never meant to be permanent but somehow it became one of the key features in Claude and Sebastian's relationship. The two of them had worked closely together building upon their strengths and weaknesses as fathers.

Alois had been lavished with attention from the two of them and it was a difficult thing to explain to him why there was soon going to be another little boy in Sebastian's life. The blonde had even taken a strong dislike to Ciel when he first arrived, but the first series of many dramas with Ciel had sorted that out. Even now Sebastian wasn't sure how such a strong emotional change could occur within those two children so quickly. But he supposed that everything in their life seemed to happen so fast. Take his recent trip to New York how they'd managed to find a gang war and get themselves into the thick of it was unprecedented in his mind. Plus Claude was so dead against them being there, what he could possibly have against Sebastian being in America he could never know.

Sebastian hummed and pressed one slender hand against the wall, his mind turned everything that he knew about Claude slowly over in his head. He needed to focus on the man and not Ciel he couldn't afford distraction. There was something bigger than the child's small connection to the gangs of New York. There was something bigger going on, something that he hadn't seen before and Claude had to be in the centre of it. He had that bad feeling that happened when you knew that a lover was caught in a web of bad things. Bad things meant lies, deceit and possibly death somewhere along the line and he refused to risk any member of his family being involved in such things. But at the same time he couldn't just be so humble and think only of Claude. He wasn't a new actor anymore he was a famous man with a fortune to last many lifetimes. He had thousands of screaming rabid fans at his disposal. Sebastian only had to lift one finger and they would bomb Claude with hate mail, threats and god knows what else. Not to mention he was main guardian, whether Claude liked it or not the papers had never been official no one really had adopted Ciel, but Sebastian had guardianship until Ciel was eighteen. So Sebastian was going to let the man know that he was angry too. He was angry because there was no chance that he was going to give into Claude dominating control or his claim over Sebastian's life. If he wanted to visit New York then he should be allowed to visit New York it was only fair that they were allowed to do things as a separate family after all it's not even like Sebastian and Claude were an official married couple. It is true that the media took their chance to set them up as the miracle gay couple that ran around spreading rainbows and happiness with their two sons. But it was not the be all and end all of their relationship the two of them were both serious working men who enjoyed each other's company. Sebastian had more than half a mind to remind him of that.

Overall there was nothing that Claude could really do to affect Sebastian but there was something that was affecting him and that annoyed Sebastian. He didn't like not knowing everything, he prided himself on being a modern day Sherlock but at the moment there was some huge piece of the puzzle that he was missing. Something he was sure that tied all the events together, why Ciel was chosen, why he kept being stolen and the reaction of Claude every time. There had to be something that wasn't adding up, just what it was though Sebastian wasn't quite ready to see yet. He turned to the pale white door of the waiting room and gave up waiting for Ciel and Finnian, he knew they weren't coming. He had to be on his own right now, there was some serious thinking required for this mystery.

((And I have set up the next plot arc which will hopefully tie the series together for the end~ isn't that a bit scary? Oh well we've probably got another few chapters before that happens, but just encase I forget thank you for following this all and if any of you ever make any fan art or anything I would love to see it Xx Hashi.))


	12. Chapter 12

Claude was forced into an office chair. His arms were grabbed and jammed onto the two levers beneath the chair, making his fingers wind around them instinctively. Duct tape wound between his fingers trapping them there even as the hard plastic bit into his skin and left painful red marks. Three more pairs of hands yanked back his hair and head. Tape was placed over his eyes and mouth making it impossible to see what was happening or yell for help. The sticky side of the tape clung to his eyelashes and pulled making them water, but it was no use, he dared not even try and force them open encase he ripped the lashes off.

His shoulders tensed as his elbows were pulled as far back and close together as they could go. What felt like cheap twine tied them in place and he could feel the strain of holding the position making his shoulders shake already. His legs were going numb because of the tight bonds holding them to the chair. Even his feet had been duct taped down unable to be taken off the chair. As his mind calmly made a list of everywhere that was trapped or tied down his less rational side began to panic. His odds of escaping were less to none and there was no doubt who this was tying him up.

When he had been younger, in university, he and Sebastian rented out an apartment. Being the rich boy that he was Sebastian had no troubles in paying the rent for both of them. But Claude's pride wouldn't allow him to do that. So he told Sebastian he'd had a pay rise and paid him back the money. But he hadn't had one in fact he'd just been laid off work. Instead he'd taken the money from a loan shark. The deal had been to pay it back in a few months or they could do what they wanted.

After a few months, Claude could only pay back a quarter of it, but he could swear by Sebastian's upcoming rise to fame. The loan sharks were interested, but demanded that he pay back double what he had been loaned. He of course agreed realising now that it was most likely the money or his death.

Sebastian was only a small time star though and wasn't interested in making it a lifetime career. Especially not with all the stalkers and problems that he had to face. Plus his mother was more discouraging of it than his father ever had been she worried that her son wouldn't be able to have family when he was so famous. Claude had to work hard to keep Sebastian in the modelling business and tried his hardest to push him to new heights and figure out a way to enter into acting. Meanwhile he was circled by the pawn brokers and he had to desperately beg for more time.

Then Sebastian made it big and Claude tried to pay them off. But agents don't get paid as much money as the actors do and again he could only pay back half the money. He knew that Sebastian would more than willingly give him the money but again it was a pride thing. He couldn't bear to admit to Sebastian that he had not only borrowed money from a loan shark but couldn't pay it back. So he started to run.

With Sebastian's profile rising it was surprisingly easier to hide from them than it should have been. They never wanted to act in the public eye, so the more stalkers they had the more that Claude was protected. Then along came Sebastian's need for bodyguards and Claude managed to scrape together enough funds to hire Alois's nursemaid. She was trained in the basics of self defence and advertised herself as a basic bodyguard. The two of them worked together for a while and then Claude found Alois.

He couldn't bear to leave another lonely child in the orphanage especially not now that he had connected with so well. So he did his best to ignore the problems that came with adopting a child when being stalked by the mafia. Then his bodyguard happily became a nurse maid and things went along steady for a while. Thing were so good that Claude thought maybe they had forgotten about him. Until Sebastian lost his good reputation and Claude came up with the idea of encouraging the public to see him as a good father to boost his rep. The minute Sebastian was back in the line of fire by the media attention was drawn to him just like that the mafia remembered his debt and they were all on the hit list especially with Ciel as his new charge.

For a while Claude wasn't sure if things would die down again or if they had to be on special alert. But then they found out the mafia group that Ciel had been working for and Claude had done his best not to mash his head right through a wall. After all the drama of getting Ciel to settle in he was kidnapped for the first time by the original man that Ciel had worked for. Claude had been tense the entire time wondering when his dirty secret was going to come out.

It didn't, that time and he was grateful, but a visit after the whole ordeal had warned him that they were watching and waiting for when Sebastian wouldn't be so vigilant. They didn't want their business aired in the media's vast eye either.

The next time Claude had a warning was when they were in New York. Claude almost died, this was where they'd gone to university and the whole thing was way too close to home. He was furious that Sebastian wouldn't take his advice and leave. How dare his boyfriend, the guy that he was supposed to be able to protect when they were big and famous living in England's version of holly wood. But no, instead he had to be an arsehole and lose both his children to Sebastian in a fight and force the man home on a plane.

He didn't really know why they didn't just kill Alois and Ciel and sent them to a crack house. It probably was just something to do with two bratty kids he supposed; at least Ciel and Alois didn't get hurt. But the whole time they were there Claude was almost choking on his guilt everything around him jut reminded him of those college days when he'd been too damn proud and screwed up everyone else's lives. Even the lives of his children! He squirmed in his bonds wanting to rip out of them and solve the whole damn problem. But someone stroked his head. "shhh, shhh."

He heard something fall and knew that they were messing with his office. It was on purpose probably to set off his OCD and make him squirm more. Finally he was glad to have the duct tape over his eyes, if he couldn't see the mess it was going to bother him a whole lot less and if he wanted to be the lucky survivor of a mafia attack again he was going to have to be calm.

"I'm sorry Claude I really am. I wanted to be friends. Oh how I so wanted to be friends." A tall man in a dark suit smiled down at Claude. "I did try very, very hard. I gave you lots of time, many, many chances but then you used them all up." He walked around and around Claude's desk, eyeing off the perfect order he had in his office. "And you see I'm a very important man. If I gave you forever, I'd have to do that to everyone else wouldn't I. But I can't do that." He smiled clasping his hands in front of his body and turning to face Claude. An innocent smiled played on his face and his blonde hair and blue eyes almost made an innocent picture if it wasn't for the cruelty displayed plainly on the features of his face. "Now, I think it's time to pay back what you owe. He lifted a gun and walked back around the desk pressing it to Claude's temple.

OOC: now should he die or not?...I wonder ;)


End file.
